


On the spur of the moment

by RecliningHorizontally



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24823837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecliningHorizontally/pseuds/RecliningHorizontally
Summary: When Kie doesn't show up as planned, the rest of the Pogues know something is up. Will the boys be able to find and rescue Kiara before her captor loses his cool completely?Filling a prompt for a guest reviewer over on my FF.net account :)As always, graphic depictions of canon-typical violence (milder than my usual stuff though) as well as some swearing. Have fun reading :)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place in the beginning of episode 6 (Parcel 9) after the friends meet at The Wreck, but before they go exploring the Crain property. Any recognizable elements belong to the showrunners.  
> Warning: possible spoilers for ep. 1-6, canon-typical violence and profanity. Have fun reading 😊

John B. sighed to himself and crinkled his forehead. What was their problem with Sarah! He looked at JJ.  
"We've got the map, right?"  
JJ gestured towards the piece of paper.  
"Well it's all out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it!"  
"It's 'cause the coast has changed…" Kie stated, sounding somewhat exasperated.  
JJ pulled a face and took a sip of his soda instead.  
"So, we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed," Pope said, and John B. looked up.  
"What about the old forts?"  
Kiara pointed to a place in one of the corners of the map.  
"Battery Jasper…"  
Pope nodded.  
"Yea, that's it," he said and looked at John B. "Best place to start."  
"I just gotta help my dad with something at home before we can go, guys," Kiara interjected.  
JJ sighed.  
"Haven't you already helped him enough here at the Wreck. Let's just go, Kie!"  
"I can't, JJ, I promised him. Meet you back here in two hours, okay?"

OBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBX

Kiara adjusted her headphones, Marley's Natural Mystic playing loudly in her ears as she made her way home. The road was disserted, and Kie followed a bird with her gaze until it disappeared into the forest to her right. A thousand thoughts were whirling in her mind at once, most of them about their hunt for the gold, and she didn't even hear the boy who suddenly yelled angrily from behind.  
Out of nowhere, a hand landed on her shoulder, making her flinch. Kie turned her head and immediately swallowed hard. She pulled off the headphones and eyed the tall boy warily.  
"What do you want, Rafe?"  
"What have you done with the losers, Kie?"  
Kiara scoffed and pulled her shoulder out of Rafe's grip.  
He looked even more out of it than usual and sent the girl an annoyed look. Her voice angered him for some reason, and he felt the darkness stir inside. It had been with him for as long as he could remember, but over the last few years it had seemed to grow, constantly increasing and gnawing at his insides. It was a dangerous darkness, Rafe knew that, but giving in to it felt surprisingly liberating. He rolled his neck and gritted his teeth.  
"I got a thing or two to say to JJ," Rafe ground out and scratched his head.  
Kiara squinted her eyes.  
"I don't know where he is, Rafe, and you should just leave him alone. Why do you always try to rile him up?"  
The boy raised a brow.  
"Why do I rile him up? He's such a little bitch, Kie, and he needs his ass whooped. Showing up at midsummer's, causing a scene like that…"  
"Oh," Kie answered with a huff and a brow-raise of her own.  
The darkness stirred again, whispering all sorts of things to Rafe, and though a small part of his brain tried shutting out the indistinct hissing, the majority chose to let the words in, making them increase in volume. "Take her. Show her who's boss. Use her to get to JJ!" The tall boy bit the inside of his cheek for a moment and looked around. Then, like a bobcat, he pounced. He grabbed Kiara, one arm across her throat and the other placed in front of her mouth so she couldn't scream. Rafe increased the pressure on Kiara's throat as the girl started flailing in his grip, doing her best to free herself. When she fell limp, he immediately moved his arm, letting Kiara breathe freely again. He hoisted her unconscious body onto his shoulder and hurried into the forest, quickly becoming invisible to potentially curious eyes.

Kiara licked her lips as she slowly opened her eyes. She felt dizzy, but when she tried lifting her hand to run it through her hair, she found that she couldn't. Panic started coursing through her body when she remembered that Rafe had grabbed her.  
Where were they? Kiara looked around. It appeared to be some old, abandoned house of sorts. She was bound to a wooden chair placed in the middle of what clearly used to be the dining room. Out of the corner of her right eye she could see a large dining room table and in front of her the room was bare. If she turned her head, she could look through a dirty window. The house appeared to be surrounded by trees and didn't provide Kiara with any useful information of their whereabouts. Her heart was beating hard in her chest, and she felt herself starting to hyperventilate. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be meeting the guys at The Wreck soon, and she relaxed a tiny bit. When she didn't show, they were sure to start looking for her. Right?

Suddenly, Rafe entered the room. He sent Kie a glare through squinted eyes and started pacing in front of her.  
"This is because I need to talk to him," he said in a loud voice, almost sounding like he was trying to convince himself that what he was doing could be justified.  
"To who?" Kiara asked, her voice icy cold.  
"Who do you think," Rafe barked at her, his eyes wide open when he turned to look at her, "JJ of course!"  
Kiara raised her brows at Rafe's tone. He was sweating and glared intently at her. Kie was certain that he was far gone on coke or some other hard drug, and she weighed her words and tried softening her tone.  
"If you let me go, I can take you to him instead…"  
Rafe scoffed at that. He took the few strides to her from where he was standing and bent down to her eyelevel. Then he wrapped one of his hands around her hair, pulling her head back harshly. Kie winced and felt her heart hammering away in her chest.  
"Let you go. You really think I'm that dumb, Kiara? HUH?"  
He pulled hard at her hair, and Kie felt a wisp of her curls give in to the violent tug.  
"Ow! Rafe, you're hurting me."  
He released his hold on her and started pacing again.  
"He's bound to come look for you soon. Those guys are always following you around."  
"How the hell are they gonna find me here, Rafe?" Kie shot, feeling her calm tone slipping into one of anger and frustration.  
"From what I can tell through that window, we're right in the middle of the freaking forest!"  
Rafe gave her a somewhat psychotic smile.  
"We're not as far away as you'd think," he revealed.  
The tall boy pulled out one of the other dining chairs and sat down opposite of Kiara. He squinted his eyes.  
"Why'd you even go back to those losers, Kiara?" he asked, sounding almost angry.  
The girl looked at him and tilted her head slightly.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You could have fit in perfectly with us," Rafe continued and clenched his fists.  
Kiara felt herself grow angry again.  
"Everybody hated me, Rafe. And if you hadn't noticed, I have nothing in common with you kooks!"  
He looked a little affronted.  
"You say kooks like it's a bad thing."  
"Oh my God," Kiara sighed and started pulling at the makeshift rope around her wrists and feet, "it is a bad thing, you idiot!"  
"What'd you call me?" Rafe shot angrily and got up again, "I'm so sick of you acting like you're better than us! You can be such a first-class bitch!"  
Kiara didn't respond to that even though all she wanted to do was scream Rafe in the face. She bit her lip when the older boy bent down. He sent her an insolent smirk.  
"Someone just has to tame you, and you'll make a nice enough trophy wife one day," Rafe continued tauntingly.  
This time Kiara couldn't keep her temper in check.  
"Fuck you, Rafe!" she yelled and spat the boy straight in the face.  
His answer came quickly and in the form of a stinging slap that made the entire left side of her face sting and burn. Kie's pulse was racing, and she fought to keep the rising tears from spilling down her cheeks. Yelling at her was one thing, pulling her hair another, but Kiara hadn't thought that Rafe would actually hit her. She wondered how much time had passed since she'd left The Wreck.  
"I need you, guys," she thought to herself and flinched when Rafe lifted his arm again, "please find me soon!"

OBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBX

JJ was tapping his foot impatiently, and Pope took off his cap to scratch his head.  
"How long's it been since she left The Wreck?" JJ asked.  
Pope looked at the clock in the car.  
"Almost two and a half hours…"  
"It's not like her to be this late," John B said from his spot behind the wheel of the old van.  
Pope shook his head.  
"Nah, you're right."  
JJ had been rolling a joint while bouncing his foot up and down, but, somehow, he didn't feel like lighting it at all right now.  
"Try her phone again," he suggested, and John B punched in the number.  
After a handful of beeps, the phone went to voicemail. For the fourth time.  
"Should we go to her house, guys?" Pope asked, and John B turned the key in the ignition as an answer.

It didn't take that long for the three boys to reach the Carrera residence, John B hadn't exactly been driving slowly, and they practically ripped the doors open as soon as the van came to a somewhat screeching halt.  
JJ was the first one up on the porch, and he immediately slammed his hand on the doorbell, keeping it there. It took a little while, but then they could hear loud steps approaching fast.  
"I'm comin', dammit," a voice yelled right before the door was ripped open.  
Kiara's father eyed the teens exasperatedly and slapped JJ's hand off the doorbell that was still ringing infernally.  
"What do you boys want?" he asked gruffly.  
John B kept quiet in the background, not all that comfortable around the tall man who had threatened to hunt him down and skin him.  
"Uh," JJ answered somewhat lamely and subconsciously rubbed the back of his hand, "we're just looking for Kie."  
"Kiara isn't here," Mr. Carrera said, "she left almost four hours ago to help at The Wreck."  
The boys eyed each other warily. Then Pope stepped forward.  
"She told us that she was going home to help you with something," he explained, "and she was supposed to meet us forty minutes ago…"  
Kiara's father suddenly seemed alarmed.  
"Have you tried her phone?" he asked, and all the boys nodded their heads in unison.  
"Four times, sir," John B added.  
"I'll call Anna," the tall man said then.  
He turned to go back inside, but stopped and looked at the boys.  
"You boys go back to The Wreck and check her usual route home, you know, the one by the woods. Call me the minute you find her!"  
"Yes sir," Pope affirmed and held out his phone so Mr. C could add his number to Pope's contacts.

As soon as Kie's dad closed the door, the boys ran down the driveway to the waiting van. John B turned the key, and once again the boys were on the road, racing back to the popular restaurant.  
"We have to find her, guys," John B exclaimed, and the other two nodded.  
"Yeah, we never leave a Pogue behind," Pope shot, his nerves jittering on the inside.  
JJ ran a hand through his unruly hair and bit his lip. The four of them were a tightknit unit, and if something bad happened to one of them it happened to them all. They had to find Kie, and fast!


	2. Chapter 2

The van didn’t sound all that healthy when John B parked it outside The Wreck, and Pope scrunched up his nose from the smell of overheated motor when they passed the vehicle to check with Anna if Kie had finally shown up.   
“Boys,” the woman exclaimed as soon as the three teens entered.   
The petite woman went around the bar and sent the boys a worried look. She had never been as opposed to Kiara and John B, Pope and JJ being friends as her husband, but right now she couldn’t help but think whether or not her daughter’s social circle had anything to do with her disappearance. Neither John B nor JJ could be considered particularly parent-friendly company, and they certainly both seemed to know some sketchy types and make some not so good choices.   
“Have you found her?” Anna asked, her voice a few octaves higher than usual.   
John B shook his head while both JJ and Pope both shuffled their feet a little. The woman wrung her hands and felt her pulse quicken. The feeling that had spread inside her when her husband had told her that their daughter was missing was something she would never forget.   
“Do you have any idea where she could be?”   
Mrs. Carrera looked from one to the other, trying to control her shaky voice.   
“Can you think of anyone who would hurt her? Maybe something to do with what happened to Topper Thornton’s boat or at a party or-“  
“Kiara didn’t have anything to do with Topper’ boat,” Pope interjected softly and sent JJ a sideways glance.   
“No, but you boys did,” Anna snapped back, sounding more stern than she intended.   
Her words made both Pope and JJ eye their feet somewhat shamefully.   
“Honestly, Mrs. C, I don’t think Topper would ever hurt Kie,” JJ said then and looked at Kiara’s mother with his brows knitted together. 

Just as his words left his mouth, he remembered the night at the outdoor cinema, and how Rafe had thrown Kiara rather harshly to the ground. Then he pictured what had happened at Midsummer’s, Rafe taunting him at the changing rooms, talking about Kiara looking hot. And all of a sudden, he felt certain that that massive asshole was the one behind this. That Rafe had taken Kie somewhere!   
Rafe Cameron was definitely one to hold a grudge, and if he had done yayo he probably felt like he could take on the entire world. JJ sent John B an intent gaze and bit his lip. For some reason, he didn’t feel like sharing his thoughts with any adults, and when the three boys found themselves outside a few moments later, he nodded his head in the direction of the forest. John B and Pope followed him to the other side of the road and sent each other a confused glance.   
“What is it, JJ?” John B asked and grabbed his best friend by his shirt to make him slow down.  
The blond turned around and let a hand run through his sweaty hair.   
“It’s Rafe, guys.”   
After sharing his thoughts with the other two, John B clenched his fists and nodded. Pope kicked a small rock on the sidewalk and followed its flight through the air. Then he swallowed against a lump in his throat and looked at his friend.   
“I think you’re right, JJ”, he ground out, his voice dark and ominous.  
“Where do you think he has taken her?” John B asked with a sigh, “they can be anywhere on this fuckin’ island!”   
JJ sucked in a deep breath, trying to force his brain into gear. It didn’t seem to work, and now it was his turn to kick a rock in annoyance. It flew through the air and hit the side of a car that was parked on the other side of the road.   
“Shit!” JJ mumbled and looked around to see if anyone had spotted the accident.   
He pulled a face and quickly started jogging down the road.   
“Pope,” JJ continued when the boys had moved a little further down the street, “get that brilliant mind of yours working, man. We need a plan! Where would Rafe take her?”   
It was as if both JJ and John B could see the cogs turning, and within thirty seconds Pope opened his mouth.   
“Okay,” he started, “it doesn’t make sense that Rafe would bring Kie with him on his bike, right, and I can’t remember the last time I saw him driving a car. That means he was probably walking, and if that’s the case he can’t have taken her that far.”  
John B nodded.   
“Sure,” he agreed, “but where did he take her then?”   
“We have to assume that Mr. C. was right, and that Kie took her usual way home from The Wreck. That means she would have come this way.”  
Pope looked down the road. Around a thousand feet further down, the forest turned into houses with gardens on both sides of the street, and Pope squinted his eyes a bit.   
“He must have grabbed her somewhere around here and pulled her into the forest. But as far as I know there’s nothing in those woods other than trees…”  
John B looked at Pope and shook his head. Everything Pope had said up until this point seemed right, but they couldn’t search through an entire forest! Or well of course they could, but it would take forever. Then JJ spoke up.   
“Hey, JB, remember that party we crashed… what was it, like a year ago?”  
“Mmhmm,” he answered, puzzled where JJ was going with this, “the one at your work, right? Kook Academy party.”  
“Yeah,” JJ confirmed and scratched his neck, “we heard Kelce talk to Topper about some old house where they used to bring girls to make out. It was supposed to be somewhere between The Wreck and The Boneyard, I think. What was it…”   
The blond scrunched up his face as he tried remembering what the Kooks had been talking about that night so long ago. He had been both drunk and high, so the night seemed somewhat fuzzy. Then John B suddenly gestured with his hand, and his face lit up.   
“The-the, erm, The Sex-Shack or something like that, right…”  
Pope knitted his brows together.   
“That sounds incredibly stupid!”  
“It wasn’t The Sex-Shack,” JJ intervened and snapped his fingers, “it was just The Shag!”   
“Oh my God,” Pope huffed, unable to believe that the usually quite suave Kooks would come up with such a cringeworthy name.   
“Alright,” he continued and cleared his throat, “so we’ve got a radius now, let’s get to it. See if we can find The Shag…”  
OBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBX  
Kiara whimpered when Rafe grabbed her by the hair again. The left side of her face was buzzing, and she could feel that the eye was starting to go puffy. The last slap had hit her right on her cheekbone, but she didn’t regret her taunting comments. As long as Rafe didn’t move on to harsher forms of violence, she could handle his open hand. And even though she knew she should just keep quiet, her abductor’s way of speaking to her had quickly proven that to be impossible.   
“Look, munchkin,” Rafe rasped and gave the girl’s hair a hard yank, “you better rethink that language!”  
“Who the fuck are you calling munchkin, Rafe!”  
“Well, we can go with sugartits instead, if you prefer that one.”  
The older boy released his hold on Kie’s hair and instead let his hand find its way to her breast and gave it a squeeze. If her hands hadn’t been tied down, Kiara would have punched Rafe directly in the nuts. Instead, she had to use her words. She quickly tried shaking off the feeling of helplessness and dread from the unwanted touch and licked her lips.   
“Well, I don’t know Rafe. If I’m sugartits, then maybe you should go by needle cock. From here it certainly looks like you’re only sporting the sad leftovers of a number 2 pencil!”   
The tall boy clenched his jaw and squinted his eyes.   
“You little bitch,” he sneered through tightly pinched lips.   
Kie could see a vein pulsing on Rafe’s temple, and she swallowed. Hopefully she hadn’t pushed him too far this time.   
“Feminism,” Rafe continued and looked like the word brought him physical discomfort, “do you agree that that term covers equality between the sexes?”   
Kiara’s heart was pounding, and every muscle in her body seemed to tense.   
“Yes,” she answered curtly.  
“Great,” the 19-year-old spat, a false smile playing on his lips, “I guess that means that “not hitting women” is hopelessly anti-feminism and outdated, huh. If a guy talked to me like you just did, what do you think I’d fucking do to him?”   
The girl didn’t answer, but could vividly imagine exactly what Rafe would do. So she had pushed him too far! Kiara felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-cold water on her. When she finally managed to pull in a shallow breath, she looked up at the tall boy.   
“…Rafe-“  
She didn’t get any further before a hard fist connected with the lowest point of her cheekbone, and a shocked squeal escaped her. The punch knocked Kie’s head back, and she couldn’t help but feel surprised by how much it actually hurt. How the hell could the boys take a handful of these without collapsing? She suddenly tasted salty tears running into her mouth, and the realization made her cheeks flush. The immediate shriek she had uttered and the fact that she was already crying like a baby made her feel both humiliated and embarrassed.   
“Quit whining,” Rafe roared, making Kie flinch.   
He seemed to have snapped, the dangerously dark side of him shining through very clearly, and Kiara felt a sense of horror spread through her veins.   
“HEEEEEELP!” she screamed even though she knew no one would hear.   
Rafe sat down on the chair opposite Kiara again and looked at the usually so pretty girl. He ran a hand through his slick hair and tilted his head a little.   
“You look like shit,” he declared then and spat on the floor.   
She wanted to throw a comment back in his face, but for the first time since she woke up, she opted for just staying silent.   
“When your precious Pogues finally come, JJ’s gonna have to pay for all of your really bad word choices! Maybe I’ll even throw in some slicing and dicing!”  
Rafe glared at the dark-haired girl and pulled out a switchblade, twirling it in his hand. He pressed the button, making the blade shoot forward, and Kiara flinched. To her knowledge, Rafe didn’t usually carry weapons, but he had seemed more out of it over the last weeks.   
Kie cried quietly and looked down as an attempt to hide her fear and tears from the gigantic asshole sitting across from her.   
“Just wait, Kiara,” Rafe slithered, “JJ’ll finally get what’s coming his way. And if you don’t start playing nice, I might practice on you!”   
He got up from his chair and flipped the knife in his hand, making the shining metal catch the light. Then he stepped up to Kiara and lifted his hand high. As the knife thundered downwards, Kiara couldn’t help herself and she screamed. Then the knife pierced the dining table, and Rafe snickered evilly.   
“Don’t worry, sugartits, I’ll save it for JJ!” 

OBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBXOBX

Outside in the woods, the three teens were making their way through the trees. Pope swatted at the mosquitos that had already eaten at least half of his blood. Just as the boys made it past a bunch of young trees, a loud cry reached their ears. JJ flinched and instinctively let go of the branch he was holding back, making the whippy twig smack John B right in the face.   
“Oomph,” he gasped and cuffed JJ in the back of the head, “watch it dude!”   
“Did you hear that?” Pope asked, and the other two nodded, “it sounded like someone yelling for help!”  
“Kie!” JJ exclaimed, his pulse quickening.   
They stood still for a while, concentrating and listening for any more sounds that could help them pinpoint a direction. Then, after a few minutes a blood curdling scream echoed through the woods.   
Pope lifted a hand and pointed, and John B nodded energetically. Then all three of them started running.


	3. Chapter 3

The boys were almost out of air when they finally spotted the old house. Pope slowed down and bent over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.   
“Okay,” he huffed and looked up at the other two, “how are we gonna do this?”   
“Dunno,” John B shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, “we don’t know for sure if it’s even Rafe, or if he’s alone with her in there, or-“.   
Then Kie cried out again, and JJ practically flew the last way to the porch. Without even thinking, he kicked the door open, and John B and Pope had no real alternative than to follow suit.   
The last one had an equally worried and frustrated look on his face. Pope was a firm believer of planning in these kinds of situations, and now JJ was just barging into a house without knowing anything, without having talked about how to go about it all. Fuck! 

Rafe and Kiara looked up when the door was practically blown off its hinges, and Rafe quickly moved behind Kie’s chair to grab the girl by her hair and pull her head back. He was holding the switchblade in the other hand and immediately moved the blade to rest against Kiara’s throat. The cold metal made Kie flinch, and she couldn’t hold back a tiny shriek, feeling hopelessly helpless tied to the chair.   
Pope and John B bumped harshly into JJ who had frozen in his tracks as soon as he saw the knife against Kiara’s skin.   
“Rafe…” he said cautiously and automatically raised his arms placatingly.   
The older boy squinted, his eyes almost turning to slits.   
“Well, well, well,” he slithered and pulled hard at Kie’s hair, “cavalry’s here at last!”   
“Arh!” Kie croaked when she felt the knife sink in, making a few drops of warm blood trickle down her neck.   
Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and she sent the boys a desperate look.   
“Let her go!” John B sneered angrily, not able to control his emotions as much as he would have liked.   
“Temper, temper,” Rafe taunted and shook his head mockingly.   
“What do you want, Rafe?” Pope asked, forcing his voice to be calm.   
He took a careful step forward, but backed off when his movement made the tall boy press the knife even harder against Kie, making more blood run down her neck.   
A somewhat psychotic smile spread on Rafe’s face, and he stared hard at JJ while Kiara squeezed her eyes shut.   
“What do I want? That’s easy. I want a few words with him! Alone.”   
Rafe used the knife to point at JJ for a second before flipping it over, letting the tip rest against Kie’s throat again.   
“What?” JJ asked and sent the taller boy an apprehensive look.   
“Yeah, you heard me. JJ stays and the rest of you leave.”  
“No way,” John B exclaimed firmly, gesturing with his hands as he sent Rafe an angry glare.   
“Rafe,” Pope tried, still keeping his voice calm and even, “just let Kie go, okay. You don’t wanna do this.”   
“Shut up, Pogue,” Rafe barked at Pope who took a few steps further back and bit his lip.   
Rafe breathed heavily and tightened his grip on Kiara’s hair. She moaned quietly and gritted her teeth while one of her hands automatically tried moving upwards to protect herself. The piece of cloth that had served as handcuffs suddenly gave in to her fast movement, and the free hand immediately shot up to grasp at Rafe’s to make him let go of her curls.  
“You’re hurting her,” JJ ground out and had to fight his body from just jumping forward and ripping Kie out of the other boy’s grip.   
“Come take her place then,” Rafe sneered and pointed at the blond with the switchblade again.   
“Fine,” JJ answered and stepped forward.  
He lifted his hands as he went and kept his eyes locked on Rafe’s.   
“JJ don’t!” Kiara begged in a high-pitched voice at the same time as Pope and John B yelled for JJ to stay in place.   
“He’ll just hurt you instead,” Kie continued, and JJ threw her a look.  
“I’ll be fine, Kie,” JJ reassured her and kept walking.  
When he was close enough, Rafe pulled Kiara’s other hand free from the chair and then pushed her away violently, sending the girl to her knees. Then he quickly grabbed JJ instead, pulling him close by a handful of his shirt, and let the tip of the knife sink slightly into the skin at the base of JJ’s throat. The blond sucked in a breath and tensed his muscles.   
“JJ, what the hell?” John B yelled, almost sounding berating.   
“You three better leave right fuckin’ now, or I’ll push the blade all the way in!” Rafe threatened menacingly and threw John B a look over JJ’s shoulder.   
Pope had instantly helped Kiara to her feet and was sending her puffy eye a worried look. When he heard Rafe threaten to push in the knife, his eyes jumped to JJ who was clenching his jaw tightly.   
“Rafe,” Pope started without knowing exactly where he was going with his words, “just l-“  
But at the sound of Pope’s voice, the tip of the blade rapidly made its way further in, prompting the first drops of blood to roll slowly down JJ’s throat.   
“We’re going, we’re going!” John B said quickly and raised both hands.   
“No,” Kie begged, “Rafe please.”   
John B carefully grabbed Kiara by her shoulders and led her out of the door with Pope following right behind them. 

As soon as the door closed, Pope whipped out his phone to call Kiara’s father just like he had asked him to, and Pope quickly gave the man the location.   
“Your dad’s on his way, Kie,” he said quietly when he turned around.   
Kiara nodded a few times and then felt her entire body start to shake. The shock of what had happened shot through her at lightning speed, and all of a sudden she started crying. Big, warm tears rolled down her cheeks, and John B pulled her close.   
“It’s gonna be alright,” he mumbled and could easily feel the sobs that raked through her body.   
Pope bit his lip and let a hand caress Kie’s hair.   
“No,” Kiara hiccupped, “it won’t. He-he said… he’ll…”   
Before she could calm her voice enough to finish her sentence, a loud crash could be heard from inside the house followed by Rafe yelling and screaming, and the three teens flinched.   
“JJ!” they all roared and spun around. 

JJ winced when he tumbled to the floor. Rafe immediately followed him down and placed himself on his chest. The switchblade had been knocked out of his hand when JJ threw the first punch and was now lying under the dining table.   
“Fuck you, Pogue,” Rafe rumbled and balled up his fist.  
The punch hit JJ right on his jaw, and he lifted his hands to ward off the next blows.   
“You think you can get away with all kinds of shit, don’t ya?!” Rafe yelled at JJ, trying to break through his hands.   
“Sinking the boat, showing up at the summer movie series, invading Midsummers-“  
“If anyone gets away with shit it’s you, you fucking asshole,” JJ huffed as he tried to wrestle Rafe off of him.   
Rafe got around the blond’s hands and landed a punch on JJ’s nose, making blood run down his face.   
“Oorph!”   
JJ scrunched up his face, trying to force away the pain. He took a deep breath and then swung his left leg up and around Rafe’s neck before slamming his leg downwards again, the force of the action bringing Rafe with it. With his hands he grabbed Rafe’s wrist and then thrust his hips up, this way creating a painful lock on Rafe’s right elbow joint.   
“Aarh!” the teen moaned and thrashed around as an attempt to get free.   
His movements only made his arm hurt worse, and he finally stopped wriggling.   
“Let me go!” Rafe screamed, “you son of a bitch, let me go!”   
“Let you go?” JJ growled, “you hit Kie! Imma fuckin’ destroy you, Rafe!” 

John B and Pope almost fell through the door, thick branches in their hands, and they quickly approached the two boys on the floor. Kiara only took a single step into the house, desperate to know that JJ would be okay, but more shaken up by the whole thing than she would like to admit. When her eyes fell on JJ, she felt her stomach do a flip, and nausea started growing in her stomach. The blood from his nose had smeared the entire lower half of his face, making JJ look a lot more hurt than he actually was.   
Rafe started flailing again when he saw John B and Pope, but soon after he seemed to lose some of his will to continue fighting, and JJ loosened his grip on the older boy cautiously.   
“We’re three against one, Rafe,” Pope sneered and squinted his eyes a little.   
“Think you can behave?” John B shot tauntingly and poked Rafe in the side with his foot a few times.   
JJ shoved Rafe to his stomach and was just about to tie his arms down with the piece of cloth he had used on Kie when the older boy shot forward, elbowing his way across the floor to the table.   
Before any of the boys could really do anything, he had gotten ahold of the switchblade and rolled to his knees. JJ was the first one to react, and when he moved forward Rafe let his hand shoot out. The cold blade bit into JJ’s forearm, making him let out a small yelp.   
“Ow, fuck!”   
Rafe laughed at JJ’s shocked face and waved the knife through the air.   
A low growl escaped JJ, and he whipped around, grabbing the large branch that Pope was holding. Then he whirled back around, took aim, and swung his arm. The thick piece of wood whooshed through the air and hit Rafe on the side of his head. The initial look in his eyes was one of surprise, but then pain took over and the next second both eyes rolled back before Rafe tumbled to the floor out cold.   
“I told you I’d wreck you,” JJ huffed and spat on the floor.   
Then he sent Pope and John B a quick look.   
“Where’s Kie?”   
They both turned to look, but Kiara was nowhere to be seen.  
“She must be outside-,“ John B said then and ran a hand through his hair.   
Pope went to finally tie Rafe up, and JJ quickly left the house. 

Kiara was sitting on the porch steps, resting her head against the railing. She was still sniffling, and JJ plopped down next to her with a pained huff.   
“You okay?” he asked and put a hand on her shoulder.   
His touch was warm and gentle, and Kie turned around. The next round of tears spilled over the edges and rolled down her cheeks, and she grabbed onto JJ, hugging him tightly.   
“I will be now,” she whispered into his side and fought against the sobs she could feel working their way up through her chest.   
“Are you ok?” she continued after a moment and pointed to all the blood.   
JJ shrugged and smiled at Kiara.   
“Yeah, it’ll be alright. I’ve had worse.”   
Kie didn’t really know what to say to that, so she just settled for staying silent, enjoying the feeling of JJ’s warmth and his arm around her. 

Soon after, Pope and John B made it out of the old house, carrying Rafe between them. The older boy was still unconscious, and his long limbs dangled around. JJ pulled Kiara even closer to him to allow the other boys to pass, and when Pope went by he lost his grip, causing Rafe’s legs to slam down into the ground.   
“Too bad it wasn’t his head,” JJ quipped dryly, his words eliciting a smile and a small snort from the girl next to him.   
“Yeah,” she agreed and wiped the last tears away.   
“Well, it can still be arranged,” John B said jokingly and sent his friends an asking glance. 

Despite what she had just been through, Kiara felt safe now. Her best friends had rushed to help her, just like she had known they would, and her heart swelled with love for all of them.   
She knew that her father was on his way, and that fact both calmed and concerned her. She didn’t doubt for a second that he would be grateful for the boys taking care of Rafe, but he would probably also yell at them for being the ones to cause things like this to happen to his little girl in the first place, and it annoyed Kie to no end that she didn’t know how to make her dad see what she saw in those boys. Love, loyalty and a second place to call home. She would have to deal with her father when he showed up, but right now she was content just sitting here with JJ’s arms around her, and she suddenly realized that even though he was usually the one to cause chaos to happen he was also the one making her feel the most safe. Sure, when JJ was around, trouble always found them, but more importantly; when JJ was around, she would always feel protected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter concludes this little story. I hope you enjoyed the ride 😊 As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.  
> XX RecliningHorizontally


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